Predicting the height of a young horse

Recently, I've been obsessing over the height of my little horse and how tall he will be once he matures. I think this week alone, I have measured his height twice. I feel like I should be marking his height on the wall somewhere like parents often do with their human children. I guess I would have to make two different marks: one for his withers, and one for his haunches. His two ends are growing at drastically different rates with his withers at about 13.0 hh and his haunches at 13.3 hh. I know this unevenness is very typical for a horse of his age, but the paranoid mother in me can't push the image of children using my horse's downhill sloped back as a slide.

I'm really hoping that Helix will break the 15 hh mark and need to remind myself that measuring him more often will not make him grow faster or taller. The fact of the matter is that Helix is going to be as tall as he's going to be, and there's not much I can do to change that. In order to curb some of my obsessive behavior, I am pledging not to measure my horse until his first birthday in April.

I know two things for certain. Regardless of how tall Helix will be, he'll certainly be wide enough to fill up my leg. I've already started saving for the custom saddle I'm pretty positive that he'll need. I also know that even if he does turn out to be under 15 hh, I'll love him just the same, and make him into the greatest dressage pony he can possibly be.

The HJ Hampton Story: an update

As I mentioned in a prior post The HJ Hampton Story, Peter Atkins, owner and rider of arguably one of the best cross-country horses of all time,HJ Hampton (Henry), has invited me to come visit :-) Well I am flying down to Ocala, FL(courtesy of my amazing parents) the last week of February to make that visit happen. EEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I'm not sure that properly portrays my excitement, but it's the best I can do. Henry had a huge impact on my development as a rider, and I am thrilled at the prospect of seeing him again. I am also very excited to meet Peter, who has truly worked miracles with that horse.

Peter and Henry at the Fork 3*

So, being as excited as I am, I have already started to think about things I should pack for the trip:

* Boots and breeches of course: While I wouldn't think of asking to ride Henry while he gears up for an intense 2012 season, and possible trip to the Olympics, I'm thinking there must be a horse I could borrow for a jumping lesson or two from Peter.

* A camera: because I'm sure there will be many memories I want to capture.

* Tequila: Because I hear Peter's a fan...especially before his dressage tests :-)

* Carrots and treats

That sounds like just about everything I'll need! I'm hoping that after all the carrots and treats are gone, I'll have room for some Run Henny Run gear that I can wear while watching the livestream of the big events and cheering the two of them on.

Ok. So maybe "excited" was an understatement. I can't thank Peter enough for the invitation, and my parents for making it happen. Yay! :-D

About the kiger mustang

As I have previously mentioned, my little Helix is 3/4 Kiger mustang. I was going to spend lots of time writing an extensive blog post on Kigers, but then I found this fantastic video (minus the frantic piaffe) on Youtube with an in depth description of the breed. Since free time is something I have very little of, I'm taking the easy way out. Here's the video :-D